Art of treating shoes



May 14, 1935. H, E Z ETA 2,001,069

ART OF TREATING SHOES Fiied June .18, 1934 6: rifi Brown,

i ATTORNEY.

F r ers .1 5 4 2,001,069

,UNITEQDISTATES PATENT OFFICE.

' ART OF TREATING snons ,Herman Metz and Robert H. Brown, Paterson,

- N. 3.; said Brown assignor, by mesne assign-.- H

ments, to said Metz V Application June 18 1934, Serial No; 731,137

6 Claims. (01. 12-142) Shoes built on standard lasts frequently fail around with consequent general constriction of to fit a particular persons foot because the foot such top, or mouth of the shoe. Usually the con-- dimensions depart from the usual or standard tact will be accompanied by a wiping and hence manufaoturers ratio of the dimensions in the smoothing action. The ordinary shoeincludes 5 shoe corresponding to that across the ball and a counter-lining, in which case we find it of the 5 those at the. heel of the standard foot in that greatest importance to proceed as follows: First such particular foot is too narrow at the'heel or one ply (as theinner one or lining) is subjected it may be that at the back the heel of such foot to the contact of the heating element and then projects abnormally, so that not only in either the other ply. The work is thus done progrescase does the top of the shoe counter fail to hug sively because we find that if it is attempted 10 the heel portion of the foot and the shoe does to shrink both plies at once the ply which is in not appear to be properly fitted to the foot but contact with the heating element is likelyto be the shoeworks up and down in walking and burned or its tissues destructively affected becausesblistering and other irritation. So far as fore the shrinking appreciably affects the other 15 we know there has heretofore been suggested no ply; In this operation the ply which is not con- 5 way toovercome this fault except for the retail tacted by the heating element (as the outer ply) dealer-' 'to send the shoe to a specially equipped undergoes some puckering due to its failure to establishment where the top seam stitching of shrink or to shrink to the same extent as the the counter is removed and restitching, with other ply; and after the ply first treated has unsome gathering and a certain amount of puckdergone sufiicient shrinkage the puckers in the 2 ering, is effected, such being an expensive and other ply are removed and a finish effected by the a time-Wasting procedure and not in every case application of the heating element in contact assuring perfect removal of the fault. One obtherewith. We prefer in this progressive operaject of this invention is to provide for the retion to shrink the inner ply first, since thereby shaping by the dealer of a shoe faulty in this obviously the work can be done with greater acrespect, to wit, while the customer is available curacy of fit.

and the fit attempted can be accurately effected, Referring to the drawing,

and so that the cost involved will be trifling Figs. 1 and 2 are side and front elevations, re-

and the shoe will bear no change in appearance spectively, of the structure which includes the whatever except in the way of improvement as mentioned anvil; 39

to fit, nor any change in other than the top zone Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3, Fig. 1; of the counter, the term zone being here used Fig. l showstthe heati unit before p to mean that portion which parallels and immetion in the anvil; diately subjacently flanks the top edge of the Fig. 5 shows the anvil in plan and the manner counter, it being undesirable to alter the shape, of eifecting contact between it and the shoe-coun- 3 for instance, of the usual counter-stiffener as ter; and beingjnot only .unnecessary to the accomplish- Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a shoe having the ment of our purpose but quite likely to cause such zone to be treated indicated as here bounded bestiifener in changed form to set up irritation. lowby the dotted line a.

40 In accomplishing this object, having any I is a shell shaped generally like a domestic 40 heated preferably smooth element, or what we P s ir 0 tapered in one direction, its 1 term an anvil, the shoe and this element are posite converging faces 2 being somewhat conbrought into contact with each other so that vex, being its working or contact faces. Its widsuch contact is substantially, confined to the er end is open and provided with a removable mentioned zone, usually to such a localized porcover 3. It here forms the head of a pyramidal 45 tion thereof as requires special treatment (as at pedestal 4 whose base may rest on and if desired one or both sides, or the extreme back, of the be secured to a table or other suitable support, counter, or each of these points, or in some inthe entire structure being of metal. I stances the entire length of said zone), thereby The anvil is internally'heated, as by a wire effecting a shrinking in said zone of the leather, coil 5 wound around an insulating strip 6 having 59 or it may of course be any other pliable heatnotches at its opposite edges receiving the conshrinkable material of which the counter is comvolutions of the coil, the element formed by the posed, such shrinking -usually giving the vertical strip and coil being arranged between insulating section of the shoe an inbent effect at the top, strips 1 and the whole enclosed in a container at the point treated, or it may be more or less all formed by an insulating strip 8 having its longi- 55 tudinal edges folded over upon strips 6 and I. The folds of the container are notched at 9 to permit bending the unit, whereupon upon such bending it is introduced into the anvil at its wider end with its own apex directed the same as the apex of the anvil, the terminals I of the coil being extended down into the pedestal and being adapted to be connected to the electric feed line. Two flat metal blocks I I are inserted and arranged to bear against the extremities of the heating unit so as to leave a wedge-shaped space between them, whereupon a metal wedge I2 is forced into such space, thus holding said extremities of the unit in contact with the side walls of the anvil. The anvil is appreciably smaller than the space of the shoe at the counter.

The zone which lies between the dotted line a in Fig. 6 and the top margin 1) of the counter of a shoe A and which extends from the front around the back of the counter and back to the front is the zone hereinbefore mentioned to which the treatment is applied. This zone lies above the counter-stiffener, whose upper margin is shown by the dotted line 0.

Assume that the counter does not hug the foot at one side. The operator, inverting the shoe and causing it to cap the heated anvil, brings that side wall of the counter which is defective against one side 2 of the anvil, but so that the contact with such wall, to wit, with the counter lining, will be within the indicated zone. Unless it is a quite limited area of such zone which requires treatment, by movement of his hand (1 he causes the shoe to wipe against the anvil to spread the heating action and at the same time smooth out any wrinkles that tend to form. The effect of this operation is to shrink the region of the lining in said zone, such shrinking manifestingitself as a shortening of the counter in said zone lengthwise thereof, with some inbending thereof at the top as viewed in section, so that the top of the counter will now hug the side of the Wearers foot. This shrinking of the lining may and usually does produce more or less puckering of the outer ply of the counter. So having thus treated the lining to the proper degree the shoe is withdrawn from the anvil and replaced in contact therewith with now the outside of the counter presented to the anvil and preferably with a wiping of the shoe over the anvil to cause shrinking of the outer ply and a smoothing out of any wrinkles that may tend to form, the operation being again performed so that the shrinking occurring in the outer ply will be within the said zone.

The region to be treated may in each instance be previously wetted, if required, to effect the desired shrinkage.

In case the heel of the weareris of the protruding type, or, in other words, in case the extreme back of the shoe does not in side elevation have such'curvature as to prevent the shoe slipping up and down at the heel, the operations above described may be effected in the said zone at the back of the shoe, the effect being to curve inward the top back counter.

The invention in its broadestaspect insofar as the method involved is concerned, contemplates applying heat to a region in a zone of limited width and paralleling and substantially immediately subjacent to the top margin of a shoe-counter of pliable heat-shrinkable material and thereby shrinking said region, wherefore in such aspect it is not material that the counter be more than -one-ply or have a stiffener.

Of course the invention is applicable to shoes having super-uppers, or what are known as high shoes or boots.

Having thus fully described our invention what we claim is:

1. The method of treating a shoe having a pluri-ply counter of pliable heat-shrinkable material which consists in applying heat to an exposed surface of one ply in a region of the counter in a zone of limited width and paralleling and substantially immediately subjacent to the top margin of the counter and thereby shrinking said region and thereupon applying heat to an exposed surface of another ply in a region substantially coinciding with the first region and thereby efiecting shrinkage in the second region.

2. The method of treating a shoe having a pluri-ply counter of pliable heat-shrinkable material which consists in subjecting to pressure and simultaneously heating an exposed surface of one ply in a. region of the counter in a zone of limited width and paralleling and substantially immediately subjacent to the top margin of the counter and thereby shrinking said re gion and thereupon subjecting to pressure and simultaneously heating an exposed surface of another ply in a region substantially coinciding with the first region and thereby effecting shrinkage in the second region.

3. The method of treating a shoe having a pluri-ply counter of pliable heat-shrinkable material which consists in applying heat to the inner ply in a region of the counter in a zone of limited width and paralleling and substantially immediately subjacent to the top margin of the counter and thereby shrinking said region and thereupon applying heat to the outer ply in a region substantially coinciding with the first region and thereby effecting shrinkage in the second region.

4. The method of treating a shoe having a pluri-ply counter of pliable heat-shrinkable material which consists in subjecting to pressure and simultaneously heating the inner ply in a region of the counter in a zone of limited width and paralleling and substantially immediately subjacent to the top margin of the counter and thereby shrinking said region and thereupon subjecting to pressure and simultaneously heating the outer play in a region substantially coinciding with the first region and thereby effecting shrinkage in the second region.

5. The method of treating a shoe having a pluri-ply counter of pliable heat-shrinkable material which consists in applying pressure progressively of and to a narrow region of the counter paralleling and substantially immediately subjacent to the top margin of the counter and while such pressure is being applied applying heat first to one ply and then to the other only in said region.

6. The method of treating a shoe having a pluri-ply coiuiter of pliable heat-shrinkable material which consists in applying pressure pro.- gressively of and to a narrow region of the counter paralleling and substantially immediately subjacent to the top margin of the counter and while such pressure is being applied applying heat first to the inner ply and then to the outer ply only in said region.

HERMAN METZ. ROBERT H. BROWN. 

